In counterpoint to the death scene in Chapter Two, Kat’s jolly opportunism lightens the mood of the men and the novel. In this chapter, Paul also reflects on how war changes insignificant men. He is joined in his musings by the others, who complain and vent their frustrations over how they would change things if they were in charge of the war. Their commiserating leads to reminiscing about the night they joined in a lightning attack on Himmelstoss. The whole mood of the chapter is lighthearted, but it will be followed by a much darker account of life at the front.
Kat, although the veteran of the group, is not like the officers they describe. Kat explains to the raw recruits that they must barter tobacco or cigars when a scrounger like himself finds them food. He patiently listens to the plight of his friends and finds what they need. Besides the cold beans and beef, he finds straw, two loaves of bread, a frying pan, salt, and fat before the chapter is over. A pragmatist, Kat cannot understand why they need to practice an hour’s saluting because Tjaden violated military protocol. Kat’s sardonic philosophy is that if they are losing the war, it will be because they can salute too well.
In the meantime. there is an air fight going on above them and Paul is dispassionately watching it. No one seems particularly concerned with the fighting. The talk turns to postal carriers and why they turn into Himmelstosses when they get a little power. As Kropp notes about rise in rank, “As sure as they get a stripe or a star they become different men, just as though they’d swallowed concrete.” Kat concurs, noting that military life brings out the worst in men, particularly the abuse of power over lesser men.
As they muse about the state of the war and particularly their officers, the men think back to the time they whipped Himmelstoss. They especially wanted to vent their rage over his inhumane treatment of Tjaden and Kindervater; joining ranks and illustrating their camaraderie, they unite against a common enemy. They will consider what they will have in store for their old nemesis after he joins them at the front.
